It would be remiss of any blogger who loves rock music to not mention the passing of Deep Purple‘s keyboard player and all-round suave dude, Jon Lord, who died yesterday at 71 years old having fought a valiant battle against cancer.

He co-wrote Purple’s defining tune “Smoke on the Water“, did time with David Coverdale in Whitesnake and composed classical work in his later years. To hear him at his best, check out this vintage tv footage of Purple’s “Child in Time”.